A recent report shows that charitable giving in the United States increased 4.1 percent on a year-over-year basis, a significant jump compared to giving in 2016.

The 2017 Charitable Giving Report includes giving data from 8,453 nonprofits in the U.S., representing $29.7 billion in total fundraising. The report also includes online giving data from 5,709 nonprofits, which represent $3.1 billion.

According to the report, a culmination of economic, political, technological and philanthropic trends helped boost giving in 2017. The increase in giving can be attributed to a strong stock market, political issues and a response to natural disasters. Giving in the last three months of 2017 increased by 5.1 percent, a potential response to new U.S. tax laws.

In 2017, total online giving accounted for nearly 7.6 percent of overall fundraising revenue.

Other findings include:

• In 2017, 21 percent of online giving transactions were made with a mobile device, a steady increase from 17 percent in 2016.
• Giving to nonprofits in the arts and culture and K-12 education sectors declined in 2017. 
• While giving to higher education grew 1.6 percent year-over-year overall, online giving to higher education grew by 13.2 percent. 
• Online gifts to higher education accounted for 7.3 percent of giving in 2017.
• The average age of the donor in the U.S. is 64. 
• The average online donation amount is $132.

The report is published by Blackbaud.

This article is from the March 2018 BriefCASE issue.